Coach Duncan: the story so far and what lies ahead

Coach David Duncan.

It’s a task not impossible to achieve but from all indications, Coach David Duncan has an arduous duty with his players to churn good results for Kotoko in the season’s remaining matches. On Wednesday afternoon at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, Kotoko will welcome Wassaman United for the return match of the Elite Cup. Kotoko lost the first leg 1-0.

Elite Cup qualification

To ensure qualification to the group stage of the GFA’s new competition, all Coach David Duncan and his players ought to do is to beat Wassaman United by a two-goal margin. Afterwards, Kotoko will head to Obuasi on Sunday to engage stubborn Edubiase in the penultimate match of the first round of the 2014/15 First Capital Plus Premier League.

Kotoko-Heart of Lions

Three days later at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium, Coach David Duncan and his players will return for Premier League action. They will be up against Heart of Lions in the last game of the first round. With any doubt, the outcome of the Kotoko-Lions clash and all other matches left including that of the FA Cup 1/16th game against Real Tamale United (RTU) will give Kotoko managers and supporters a good picture of how Coach Duncan’s work has looked like.

Duncan’s future

It will give Kotoko managers and supporters an image of not necessarily determining the coach’s future with the club but to rather help strategise for the second round of the league and other assignments in the FA Cup and the Elite Cup. In that case, a retrospective view at what happened not only under Coach Duncan’s short time but also exactly what transpired regarding Kotoko’s performance in the first round of the season will be inevitable.

The coach will himself like the review and the prognosis that will follow especially with how things could be done in the second round to achieve better results. For now, I believe it’s worth encouraging the coach and the players as well as management to put their last and best cards on the table to lift Kotoko from the middle-table position to a more dignifying top four spot.

Indeed for now, it will not be out of place to remind ourselves of what results the team has chalked in seven competitive matches under Coach David Duncan. It’s also not misplaced urging the team delve deep into their pot of experience to close the season on a good note.

Brief Review

Duncan kicked off his campaign at Kotoko in quite an impressive style when he led the Porcupines to draw goalless in cold temperatures in Eulma, Algeria in the first leg of the CAF Champions League, 1/16th stage. It was a result no one expected especially at a time Kotoko had drawn in three straight league matches.

Coach Michael Osei

The suspicion that, deputy coach Michael Osei, who had supervised Kotoko in the three drawn games after the exit of Mas-ud Didi Dramani created uneasiness among many supporters. That nervous feeling was even not helped by later reports that, Coach Duncan was in Algeria simply to observe the team. And if that ‘observation report’ was a publicity stunt, aimed at diverting attention or truly taking pressure off Coach Duncan, it achieved its intended purpose.

Duncan on the bench

Duncan stepped onto the bench and his influence at the end of the day was indisputably felt.

It’s very sad that, Kotoko couldn’t replicate their sterling performance in Algeria in the return game in Kumasi. As insignificant as results in domestic competitions might look, compared to results in the CAF Champions League; the outcome of Coach Duncan’s matches in Premier League and Cup matches, no matter how one sees him, cannot be written off like that.

Epilogue

Wins are wins and defeats are defeats much the same way as draws are draws. Nothing more, nothing less. In eight games combined – Champions League (2), Premier League(3), FA Cup (2) and Elite Cup(1) – Coach Duncan has chalked four wins, two draws and two defeats. As stated earlier, there are four more competitive matches for him to supervise in the coming weeks. Two league matches and two Cup matches. Whatever the outcomes will be, it will add to his story at Kotoko and Kotoko Express and Asantekotokosc.com sincerely wish him well.

Ugly disappointment, painful exit!

Kotoko's bench was dejeected after the 2-1 loss to Eulma.

Spectacular failure. Embarrassing show. Ugly disappointment, culminating in a painful exit. These were some of expressions commentators at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium used to briefly describe what unfolded beneath their eyes on Sunday when Kotoko lost 1-2 to Algeria’s MC El Eulma in the CAF Champions League, 1/16th stage, return encounter.

Kotoko had drawn goalless in the first leg in Eulma. The expectation was simply that, the Porcupines will win at home for advance. They rather stunned their fans with a miserable display that left the thousands of fans at the packed venue bitterly disappointed. It was third time in succession that Kotoko had failed to not just excel in Africa but also gone past the second preliminary round of the CAF Champions League.

Indeed, and rather painfully too, Sunday April 5, 2015 was yet another time since 2013 that, Kotoko struggled against an unknown African opponent and ended up being overpowered. If history has anything worth recalling, Kotoko have one in African club football. Recent developments are however showing that, the current team either does not know that history or something fundamentally is wrong with the team hence the sequential failures in Africa.

In 2013, it was JSM Bejaia – an Algeria side with barely no experience in Africa. Kotoko drew goalless away and surprisingly drew 1-1 at home. They crashed out. In 2014, against a relatively young team from Liberia, Barrack Young Controllers, Kotoko laboured to win 2-1 in Kumasi and subsequently lost 1-0 in the Liberian capital, Monrovia. Sunday was no different.

Against a side that, Kotoko had drawn goalless in their backyard three weeks ago; against a side that are struggling in their domestic league and against a side whose participation in the Champions League only happened by fortune, Kotoko disappointed once again. How Kotoko could lose, not even draw with some form of dignity intact, was something I couldn’t fathom.

Not that I don’t understand football’s illogicalities. Not that, I don’t know that apart from winning, a team either draws or loses in this game. I know all that. I also know that, all Kotoko needed was a win. The players knew that as well. Their knowledge was however distant from the eventual outcome. The over the 30,000 fans all left with enormous pain; sad and dejected.

The magnitude of work done by management to get the fans to fill the stadium most definitely has suffered a setback. Losing 1-2 to Algeria’s MC El Eulma is just unacceptable. From start to finish, until the Algerians scored their second goal in the 94th minute, which worsened matters for Kotoko, hopes of Kotoko winning was still high. The bright way in which Kotoko started the game painted a good picture by the end of regulation time, not knowing it was but a mirage.

Eulma wasn’t good. Kotoko just gave them too much comfort. The early incursions launched on Eulma early in the game were fine but as the game progressed with Kotoko not scoring, Eulma steadily grew in confidence. Then the deadlock was broken. Obed Owusu capitalized on a weak back pass from a defender to his goalie to put Kotoko in the lead five minutes from the break.

The nearly packed stadium erupted with joy. Kotoko lacked the sense of urgency to respond to the supporters’ call. It was if some of the players didn’t know what was at stake. Some could walk slothfully for throw-ins when only a solitary goal separated Kotoko from Eulma. That lethargic approach proved too expensive.

Eulma equalized 16 minutes inside the second half. It didn’t really mark the end of the road for Kotoko. The fans despite being jolted, cheered the team. That the spectators, usually known for not showing such love in the face of imminent defeat, this time exhibited unflinching support, suggested that, they wanted nothing but the best for Kotoko. They were however let down.

With two minutes to exhaust the six minutes added on by the referee, Eulma scored. The die was cast. What a painful anticlimax, a commentator called it! Literally, Kotoko drove a red-hot knife excruciatingly through the hearts of their fans. Only time would heal the wounds suffered by the fans who traveled from all over Ghana to watch the game.

The David Duncan effect…

Coach David Duncan.

Every effort must be made not to unnecessarily sing praises to Coach David Duncan. We shouldn’t as well eulogise the players for their impressive 3-1 win over Bechem United on Sunday. Indeed, it is necessary that the Porcupines don’t get complacent. They ought not assume or think that, they have suddenly found the antidote to all their problems.

That’s the clarion call from most discerning observers, which is good. But in exercising that restraint, certain things can’t be overlooked simply because of fears of being complacent.

One of those things is the David Duncan effect. As a journalist employed by the club, it maybe be irresponsible on my part if not unprofessional not to examine moves Coach Duncan.

The coach has been tasked to halt Kotoko’s declining form. The readiness to talk about Coach Duncan and the newsworthy things he does or says will naturally stay with me. Therefore it’s right to do the appropriate commentary when it matters to do it. Thus the subject I’m looking at is: what was Coach David Duncan’s influence Kotoko at Bechem where they Michael Akuffu (two goals) and Amed Toure scored to give the Porcupines a deserved healthy win?

Unlike the Eulma-Kotoko Champions League encounter where Coach Duncan had no prior training session with the team, this time, he had some reasonably good time to prepare.

He prepared the team for some days – not for a week. He was in Kumasi in the middle of last week. He consequently couldn’t have had enough time working or training before Sunday.

Yet as a coach who knows his job and has been around for years, the new trainer didn’t need a lot of time to determine which player best fits which position. He settled on what I felt was the best that he could assemble in the week. His deployment of the players on the field was quite perfect and his instructions – watching from afar – went well.

I don’t think Isaac Amoako was really tested but it is fair to point out that, there were tricky situations the highly experienced goalie saved at Bechem. He scared me when he rushed out once but didn’t firm control of affairs. I enjoyed watching Christopher Bonney and skipper, Amos Frimpong on the right and left sides of defence. Ahmed Adams and Abeiku Ainooson partnership in central defence was almost faultless.

It saddens me that, the team doesn’t have Ahmed Adams as part of the squad for Africa.

Adams hadn’t been recruited when the deadline for the Africa registration closed. The fine performance Adams continues to exhibit explains my sadness. In midfield, Owusu Jackson, Richard Mpong, Emmanuel Asante all gave a good account of themselves.

Amed Toure and Michael Akuffu, by the fact that they scored, stood out as the best. The contributions of Obed Owusu and the substitutes Prince Baffoe, Eric Donkor and Akwasi Acheampong weren’t that negligible. So Coach Duncan and his players performed well.

But exactly what changed so much that, the team that has drawn in their last three league matches this time scored three times and were not the least daunted when they conceded a goal minutes after they shot into the lead? That was the type of question I posed to Coach David Duncan during an interview in the team bus.

“I don’t know what they were doing previously that was churning out that kind of results. I however don’t think Michael was doing anything different” he stated. “I [think] the players were low in confidence, that psychological part or component of the game [was missing]” added the knowledgeable Kotoko coach.

Coach Duncan is right. Psychology plays a monumental role in all fields of human endeavour. Maxwell Maltz, an American surgeon and author of Psycho-Cybernetics (1960), which was a system of ideas that he believed could improve one's self-image said: “Realizing that our actions, feelings and behaviour are the result of our own images and beliefs gives us the level that psychology has always needed for changing personality” – in this case, a team.

If we are psychologically unfit, the result we produce in an assigned task more often than not turns out to be bad. Duncan expressed this point better when he said that, Kotoko could’ve the best players on earth but if the confidence of these players is low they would achieve very little.

According to Duncan, the deficiencies in Kotoko’s psychological makeup before his arrival affected the team’s competitive spirit, commitment and determination. In summary, what the Coach Duncan has done within the short time is to literally inject the players with a heavy dose of mental strength. He’s lifted their psychological capacity. That is the David Duncan effect.